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Sprint Had Fewest Dropped Calls in First Half of 2006 By Leo Blanco TMCnet Contributing Editor After analyzing more than 80 million calls placed and received from January to June 2006, wireless management services provider mindWireless has determined that Sprint (News - Alert) had the fewest dropped calls during this period, at a rate of 5.4 percent.
Ironically, Verizon, which claims to have the most reliable network, landed third with a rate of 8 percent – about 50 percent behind the leader. On the other hand, T-Mobile (News - Alert) and Nextel have the highest number of dropped calls, averaging 13.8 and 14.6 percent, respectively. In a press release, mindWireless managing director David Wise said, “We are constantly bombarded with advertising from wireless carriers claiming to offer the fewest dropped calls, making it hard to decipher the truth. There was a perfect example of this on a one-mile stretch of Houston highway - where three carrier billboards claimed the fewest dropped calls, one qualified their claim to calls in Houston. Because we manage over 130,000 wireless lines for our clients, with access to detailed call data, we have a very accurate view into actual calling patterns - and the results surprised us.” A dropped or duplicate call is a wireless phone call which suddenly terminates due to a technical reason. Together with congestion, dropped calls are one of the leading setbacks affecting quality. The most common cause is being just out of the range of a wireless network. mindWireless considered topography, geography and population size as variables in conducting the research. Voicemail and Nextel push-to-talk calls were not included. A technology and outsourcing firm focused on wireless market, mindWireless is an independent services provider with no carrier alliances. It offers wireless expense management services comprised of administrative outsourcing and wireless management outsourcing, monthly optimization, help desk, auditing, procurement, and enrollment. --------- Leo Blanco is a contributing writer for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page. |